by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
Did you see what just happened in Damascus? In an absolutely stunning move, Israel took out the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Needless to say, the Iranians are absolutely furious and they are promising a “harsh” response. For a long time, I have been warning my readers that an apocalyptic war in the Middle East will be one of the conflicts that defines World War III. The good news is that the war in the Middle East has not escalated to an apocalyptic level yet. But after what we witnessed on Monday, we are just one step away.
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The building that was destroyed by the IDF airstrike was reportedly directly next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus…
A building next to Iran’s embassy in Damascus has been destroyed in an airstrike, reportedly killing a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps and five others – with state media saying Israel was behind the attack.
Pictures show the building in Syria’s capital razed to the ground, with huge plumes of smoke rising from the site following the explosion this afternoon and emergency workers rushing to the scene.
This particular building was apparently the residence of the Iranian ambassador to Syria.
The Syrian government says that the missiles that destroyed this building were fired from the Golan Heights…
The Syrian Ministry of Defence responded with a statement.
“This evening, the Israeli enemy launched an air aggression from the direction of the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting the Iranian consulate building in Damascus,” it said.
“Our air defences responded to the missiles and shot down some of them. The aggression led to the destruction of the entire building and the martyrdom and injury of everyone inside.
“Work is underway to recover the bodies of the martyrs, treat the wounded and remove debris.”
It appears that the IDF was targeting a gathering of very important regional leaders.
Mohammad Reza Zahedi was among those that were killed. He was the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps…
The head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Mohammad Reza Zahedi, was confirmed killed in the strike, alongside several other Iranian diplomats visiting the Syrian capital.
The IRGC-managed Fars News agency announced the commander’s death on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Another important Iranian military official named Haji Rahimi is also dead…
Haji Rahimi was named as the second commander killed in the attack on Iran’s consulate building in the Syrian capital, according to the statement shared by state news agency IRNA on Monday night.
Haji Rahimi was reportedly a coordinator for the Quds Force, according to Iran’s semi-official Tasnim News.
This was a major victory for Israel, but the Iranians will inevitably respond.
In fact, Iran’s ambassador to Syria has already publicly stated that the response will be “harsh”…
Iranian Ambassador to Syria Hossein Akbari, who was not injured, said at least five people had been killed in the attack and that Tehran’s response would be “harsh.”
The Iranian Embassy in Lebanon said that the “barbaric Israeli aggression is a flagrant violation of international laws, diplomatic norms, and the requirements of the Vienna Convention.”
We shall see what Iran chooses to do.
As Zero Hedge has aptly noted, if Iran’s response is too severe, it could spark “an all-out regional war”…
Depending on Iran’s response, this could be the start of an all-out regional war. For months now, Iranian-made ballistic missiles and drones have rained down on Israel, fired by Iran’s proxies in Lebanon and Yemen. This new brazen Israeli attack on Iran’s embassy takes things into uncharted territory, and also opens up the potential for the Iranians to target Israeli embassies abroad.
Of course the Iranians have already been escalating matters.
Prior to the IDF airstrike on Damascus on Monday, Iranian-backed militants in Iraq used a drone to attack a key naval base in southern Israel…
In a significant first of the Gaza war marking a very serious escalation, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have confirmed that a drone which slammed into a naval base in Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat early Monday morning was launched from Iraq.
The IDF its statement said it identified a “suspicious aerial target” that breached Israeli airspace “from the east” before making impact “in the Eilat Bay area” on the Red Sea. While this isn’t necessarily the first instance of Iraqi militant groups claiming to have fired on Eliat, it appears to be the first time that direct impact was made on an Israeli navy base and that the IDF has confirmed it.
How far can both sides push one another before events spiral completely out of control?
Sadly, we are getting dangerously close to a point of no return.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government is also having to deal with violent anti-Netanyahu protests all over the nation…
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